Larian Studios Forums Divinity - Original Sin Divinity - Original Sin - General Q: TB combat & non-combat in D:OS, How it works?

Hi all,

I've some questions :

• When I start a fight or a fight is going to start soon, can I stop/interrupt that fight ? So short: can I run back (flight) when in combat ?
• If I understand ONLY the COMBAT is Turn based, correct? So all other actions (walk & talk, travel & trade) are in Real Time ?
• Is it possible to talk you out of problems instead of fighting ? And if so, give that option also XP points ?
• Is it possible to Sneak and pass an enemy unseen ?
• How do it works meeting an enemy ? Do the player take the first action or the enemy the first ? And has this influences/consequences for the outcome of a battle ?
• Can I talk to (any kind of) enemy and say I don't want to hurt him/her and so we go in peace ?

Thanks !

Good questions.

I think that combat starts once you're in a certain range of an enemy. But I don't know what that means if party member A reaches that minimum combat range, but party member B is a few steps behind A and hasn't yet. Does B also get drawn into combat? Or are they still real time until they move forward a bit?

I think escape MIGHT be possible

I imagine the turn order is based on the relative speeds of the individuals, with possible modifiers based on ambushes and sneak attacks.

I sincerely doubt that you will be able to talk to EVERY enemy to avoid a fight, I think many may just attack on sight without giving you a chance to talk at all, and even in cases where you can talk, you probably can't always talk your way out without fighting. Turn that idea around for a minute. If you could talk any enemy into giving up and leaving, why couldn't the enemy do that to you? What if they got a really good result on their Charisma roll? Do you think it would be a good idea if the enemy talked YOU into giving up, and then you get a "Game Over: The enemy convinced you to go retire in peace."?

Even if you COULD talk to every enemy, I would not want to have even the option to do that every single time for every encounter, that would quickly drive me insane, even if I selected "no I want to fight" each time.

I agree & understand what you mean: better only for a few (or more) "special encounters" I wish to have the possibility to choose to fight or do not fight (or do that fight on a later time, when I'm, for example, ready for that fight).

Also not every time a question like "I don't want to fight, please stop" or "just leave me in peace" or whatever, but simply:
If I sheat my weapon or stop using magical spells & taking up a white flag for visual 'saying' I want peace ... (that will be a funny thing or not ?)
O, and some enemies ignore that white flag or even burn it to black

From what I know from playing and Swen and David telling me:
When I start a fight or a fight is going to start soon, can I stop/interrupt that fight ? So short: can I run back (flight) when in combat ?

Not sure. It is turn-based, so if the distance you can move given your action points is larger than that of your opponents I guess you can outrun them.
Your opponents might also be restricted to a certain area, but I am guessing here.
Also the person initiating the combat is part of it. If your partner is close enough he is part of the combat to. If not he can do whatever he/she likes. If however he gets close enough to the combat he automatically becomes part of it.


If I understand ONLY the COMBAT is Turn based, correct? So all other actions (walk & talk, travel & trade) are in Real Time ?
Yes, that is correct.


Is it possible to talk you out of problems instead of fighting ? And if so, give that option also XP points ?

There are situations where talking yourself out of combat is possible. I don't think that can be done in 100% of the cases.


Is it possible to Sneak and pass an enemy unseen ?
That would be a skill. I believe it is in, but am not entirely sure (going from memory here)


How do it works meeting an enemy ? Do the player take the first action or the enemy the first ? And has this influences/consequences for the outcome of a battle ?
As far as I know it works the same as in DD. There are enemies you get to talk to first, persons that become hostile because of your conversation and there are enemies that are just hostile and attack when you are in range.


Can I talk to (any kind of) enemy and say I don't want to hurt him/her and so we go in peace ?
Isn't that the same question as your third one?

No, if the distance to B is large enough he/she is not drawn into combat. In a multiplayer game that person can go do whatever he/she likes. Even start a fight at a completely different location.
When getting close enough to the combat of A, he/she is drawn automatically into that fight.

Myrthos is doing all the work here, but still:

When I start a fight or a fight is going to start soon, can I stop/interrupt that fight ? So short: can I run back (flight) when in combat ?

You will be able to (try and) flee from combat, but most of the time, combat will be placed so that you can check enemy levels, or at least their appearance, before you engage. If you are ambushed, it will be in the middle of a zone of a certain level where we know that you have already succeeded in defeating that particular level of creature.

If I understand ONLY the COMBAT is Turn based, correct? So all other actions (walk & talk, travel & trade) are in Real Time ?

Yes.

Is it possible to talk you out of problems instead of fighting ? And if so, give that option also XP points ?

It is possible if it makes sense, and will give XP.

Is it possible to Sneak and pass an enemy unseen ?

Not in our current build, but it will be.

How do it works meeting an enemy ? Do the player take the first action or the enemy the first ? And has this influences/consequences for the outcome of a battle ?

If the enemy spots when you enter their "threat" zone, they start combat. They get higher initiative base scores for the first round. You can spot most enemies from beyond their threat zone, and initiate combat, which gives your party members higher initiative first round.

Can I talk to (any kind of) enemy and say I don't want to hurt him/her and so we go in peace ?

There are creatures that are hostile towards you and are out to kill you. There is no reasoning with them.
There are creatures that are out to kill you, but they are not stupid: if you are too dangerous for them, they will (try to) flee.
There are creatures that are out to kill you, but they are very stupid: you can talk them into NOT attacking you.
There are creatures that are more neutral and only become hostile when you do something wrong, and they offer a way out "the first time".

FYI, I just answered some questions on RPGCodex that may interest you. Yes, I feel guilty for not posting on our own forum often, or at least in a very random fashion. I will try to keep you updated as the weeks progress, but we have just returned from a presstour and we're still trying to get our bearings

http://rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/divinity-original-sin.72670/page-11#post-2566523

I've just seen the voice recording video on Youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=cBi60ZqYR5A)

Is the woman in the video the voice of Ygerna in Divinity 2? Her voice sounds very familiar. Also, she is a very good voice actor.

Thanks for answering some questions (and posting the link to the other forum where you answered questions.)


1) I was under the impression that there was going to be a big mystery behind these characters origin stories, like why one guy was tortured for years and why the woman came back from the dead. You just said that the backstory was going to be cut back a bit, does that mean that the mystery won't be as big a role in the story going forward as it once was?

2) I know you can probably rename the characters, but do you have any internal names for the characters, like "Dave and Samantha" or something like that?

3) I guess it was decided that Wisdom isn't going to be a primary stat after all? EDIT: Nevermind, you just said you're still playing with the stat system. If Wisdom is out, that may be for the best, if you only need to put points into one attribute for magic, instead of two, it will let you use magic with more build types.

4) I'm okay with health not regenerating, but if mana doesn't, how easy will it be to get mana-restoration items? Mana didn't regenerate in Divine Divinity, and it was a nuisance to deal with until about level 9 (when you could start making potions from herbs). A lot of the previews emphasized the flexible nature of the magic system to create spell combos, and I hope I won't be stuck only using magic on rare fights.

5) Will there be a button or option to use a minimal HUD or toggle the HUD between normal and minimal options?

6) Even if they aren't playable, will there be more use of other races in the game than just humans and orcs? I liked Divine Divinity for having settlements for many different races, and felt that Divinity 2 was far too human-centric.

7) If stat points are going to be limited and you only get one per level, I'd lean towards making magic items a bit more plentiful, so you could use them to shore up weaker areas in your attribute points.

Many thanks for answering all my questions ForkTong and other friendly guys

All sounds so very Great & so a Charming Sweet Taste for my RPG - Sensation !
And it sounds like D:Os will fit perfectly on my laptop I will buy on the moment Original Sin is born to be a Gold Game !!
Hope also the Editor of D:Os is playable on a laptop smooth enough to enjoy it's charms ?

I've read also your long post on RPGcodex forum, thanks for the link.

Yes, yes yes .. yes, all is becoming very well with D:OS !!

And I'm beginning to be very very curious to see D:OS coming my way and what's more :
play D:OS, play it to grey ... for years ...
Yes, at least Seven Dimensions of Rivellonian Ages !

There still is backstory of the two heroes to be discovered during the game. That didn't change.

What you know about them at the start, however, is limited. "They are two novices in the Sourcehunter Academy" is about it.




I think Roderick and Scarlet.



Not at the moment. It was a stat no one was investing in. We don't like "throw-away" primary stats.



Good point. We'll see. Currently, it's actually fun (to me) that there is no regen and that you need to loot/find/buy stuff and think about mana/hp. Like I said, we're at least making it regen at "higher" levels. And indeed, still testing.



Not at the moment. Is that something that people want?

A "hide UI" function?



Yes.



First Swen, now you. You all just hate Dragonlance, don't you

What means Dragonlance ?

O, and I've another question about TB combat:

Well in battle, can I use a Healing potion (or Mana potion) to recover HP or MP while IN battle ? Does this cost extra action points or not ?
And I supose it need to be my Turn to use such a potion (or not) ?

Thanks in advance !

Of course you can use potions and food in battle! It will indeed cost action points, and you have to do it in your turn.

(Dragonlance is a D&D setting/universe, quite popular in the eighties. More popular than Forgotten Realms at one point. I like the Dragonlance books a lot, and there were a couple of cRPGs that used the setting that I liked a lot too, more specifically the SSI Gold Box cRPGs. Magic items were rare. But we're making a different game.)

Okay, and sorry for my silly questions, but I never really played a TB RPG (A tried Arcanum but preferred a Divnity game above that ! Sorry Arcanum )
... Original Sin will be my first and I feel ... I'll addicted to it ..;
O no, there goes my sleeping time

There are no silly questions! Only silly answers!

You'll find turn based a lot of fun, I'm sure. Ample time to think things through.

GOOD LORD YES YES PLEASE

Thanks for answering questions, it's always nice to see developers who take the time to do that.



Huh. I didn't expect that.

(I guess that means we'll probably learn a bit more about what the Source is. I got the impression it was something like a spring with special healing water and/or special healing magic, but I was never clear on the details.)




Good point, if you're only getting one attribute point per level, too many places to put it are bad. I want to make use of the much-touted magic system for combos, but the characters I'm envisioning for my first run would be more hybrids, a tank-mage and a dagger-mage. That may already be tricky enough to find points to fill in spots even without an extra magic attribute.




Maybe you're right. I'm in no position to judge how well it will work, I have no idea

• how deep a dent restocking on supplies in town will make in the overall adventure budget (supplies, upgrades, new equipment, training, mercenaries) before entering a dungeon
• how long it takes, just to walk through a typical dungeon or back to town
• how many fights there are
• how efficient a potion is at restoring health and/or mana
• how many supplies can you get back during the dungeon (through random drops, pre-placed items, or alchemy)
• how the overall dungeon would play out if you started it at full supplies, half supplies, no supplies
• how the boss fight would play out if you started it at full supplies, half supplies, no supplies

Well, okay I don't know how many people really want it. I'm sure that ability is in the development build though, if only for the purpose of taking screenshots.




Well, they don't have be powerful items. If each attribute point matters, even a simple +1 Perception ring could help.

It should not be a secret what Source is. It was already explained at the very beginning in Divine Divinity. Source is magical

And I personally see no purpose in hiding the UI. It is also impractical as it would not show how much HP and mana you have left anymore. As it is not regenerating it is quite important to keep an eye on those.